The lights dimmed, the crowd hushed, and four freshmen took center stage in the MHS Battle of the Bands on Thursday Feb. 9. Abraham and the Lincolns won first place at the 5^th Annual Rockfest and a $250 cash prize.

Band members Kevin Ganahl, Nick Vaaler, Jacob Munson, and River Turner are all freshmen at MHS and began playing together in Nov. of last year.

“We aimed to practice at least twice a week up until the competition.” Ganahl, lead singer and drummer, said. “But we ended up practicing more often at the end.”

Ganahl said the best part about the competition was seeing all of their friends’ reactions and the crowd’s support.

“The fans were the greatest,” he said.

Ganahl said the hardest part was waiting for the judges scores and the anticipation that came with that. Each judge talked to the bands about their highlights as well as their areas of concern, before giving a score out of ten. The three scores were then added up, and revealed as a total out of 30 points.

The main advice from all three judges was to focus more on playing as a group, instead of four separate artists.

“We’ll use the judges’ advice to help us improve,” Ganahl said.

He said the band has plans to play other gigs in the future. They’re aiming for The Wolf Public House on Clayton Rd.

“We’re just going to keep on playing music,” Ganahl said.

Freshman Principal Dr. Jennifer Sebold was the main administrator for the competition. She said all the benefits from the show go toward the Senior Farewell for the Class of 2015.

Sebold said she was impressed with the amount of freshmen that attended and supported their fellow students. She said she hopes to see more support next year.

“Everyone just needs to bring their friends,” Sebold said.

She said the fact that a freshman band won didn’t surprise her at all, but that all of the contestants worked really hard and were highly entertaining.

“Nobody disappointed,” she said.

Ed Bolton, chemistry teacher and Battle of the Bands judge, said he was pleasantly surprised with the talent brought to the stage.

Bolton said the judging criteria was based on four categories: Stage presence, Crowd, Musicality, and Originality.  He used his previous music knowledge as a basis for judging. Bolton played in band since 5^th grade, which paid for his college career, and also ran Mozingo Music.

“Overall it was a fun night, bring your friends,” Bolton said.